Individual servings of beverages, such as juices, are sold in disposable pouches or boxes, ideal for storing, transporting and/or consuming the single serving of the beverage. The pouches, which are made of fluid-impervious laminar materials, are not re-usable. An example of the laminar materials from which beverage pouches are currently being manufactured is constructed as follows. Beginning with the outer layer, the film consists of a polyester film/printing ink/coating adhesive/metal foil/coating adhesive/heat-sealable plastic (e.g., polyethylene) film. Such a laminate is further described in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,583 to Wild, which patent is incorporated herein by reference. This patent also teaches the provision of a separate layer of easily pierced material on the inside of the laminate film, covering an opening in the laminate film, to facilitate the insertion of a drinking straw in the bag while preventing the liquid contents from leaking out.
Another example of the laminar materials from which such pouches are manufactured is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,851,578 to Hagihara, which patent is also incorporated herein by reference. This material consists of a plastic sheet, a metallic sheet or a composite sheet composed of the former sheets; the plastic sheet is exemplified by polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, polycarbonate or a nylon resin.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,652,144 to Stefandl, which is also incorporated herein by reference, the fluid container pouch is described as comprising two opposing pliable sidewalls, formed of a composite material, such as a polypropylene ply having a barrier layer of aluminum foil, a metalized coating, or polyethylene vinyl alcohol, on at least one side of the polypropylene ply. The upper end of a straw, included inside the pouch, can be exposed for use by tearing flap at the top of the pouch.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,378,069 to Franco describes a thin-walled pouch container made of synthetic resins such as polyethylene, polypropylene, and similar flexible plastics susceptible to heat sealing. U.S. Pat. No. 4,172,914 to Festag et al. discloses beverage pouches constructed of aluminum/plastic laminate foil. Indeed, most disposable beverage pouches are heat sealed along their side walls, the plastic layers being used for heat sealing of the front and back surfaces of the pouch as well as fluid imperviousness. These two references are also incorporated herein by reference.
Access to the beverage in the pouch is typically achieved with a straw attached to the container. This straw may be separated from the container and used to pierce the pouch and sip the beverage. However, it is not easy to pierce the wall of a pouch constructed of multi-layer laminar materials.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,762,514 to Yoshida et al. discloses a method of making a beverage packaging bag comprising laminar panels of a combination of polyester film, polypropylene film, nylon film, cellophane, or aluminum foil, capable of being readily pierced by a straw.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,076,967 to Beaudette discloses a fillable disposable beverage bag or pouch having several different embodiments for attaching a drinking straw. One is built into the wall of the bag; another is a round opening with a removable adhesive patch.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,072,233 to Kramer et al. describes another method for creating a piercing point in a container made of a plurality of layers of laminated material. One of the container walls is provided with a piercing point constructed by forming a depression in the exterior surface of the container wall. The depression does not penetrate completely through the wall. The depression is surrounded by an annular ring, which marks its location.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2003/0221393 to Kothari describes a conventional aluminum foil beverage container which possesses a round hole provided at a top side face, covered with a thin film of aluminum that can be pierced by a straw.
A variety of closures for flexible storage bags and pouches have been developed including the so-called profile closure having at least one pair of mating channels, an example of which may be seen in U.S. Pat. Re. 28,969 to Naito which shows the Zip-loc storage bag. U.S. Pat. No. 4,782,951 to Griesbach et al. discloses embedding a plastic zipper on the inside surface of a storage pouch, by attaching interlocking closure strips or profiles on inside surfaces of said front and back walls, adjacent to the areas of said front and back walls to become sealed after filling. No “straw holes” are provided in these storage pouches.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,883,683 to Cunningham et al. describes a pouch with front and back walls tack sealed together along a line proximal the top edge to releasably close the opening of the pouch. When the tack seal is broken, the front and back walls may be separated from one another to open the pouch, and the pouch resealed by pressing together the front and back walls over the tack seal. Again, no “straw holes” are provided in these storage pouches. Recently, storage bags have been provided with a bottom surface, making it possible to stand the pouch upright on a counter, and place items/food to be stored through the sealable opening.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,498,591 to Smith discloses a pouch construction wherein carefully placed lines of deformation in the pouch create an opening at the top of the pouch, by merely applying pressure against the two opposed sides of the pouch, toward one another.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,913,388 to Laske discloses a flexible container formed of two sheets sealed together along their edges to form a void between them. The seal comprises an adhesive sealing line on the outside upper surface of the front wall. The seal is formed by folding the upper portions of the front and back walls onto the front wall and securing the fold with an adhesive seal.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,709 to Demus discloses a container having a protective secondary seal by folding the upper portions of the front and back walls onto the front wall and securing the fold with a hook and loop fastener.
U.S. Design Pat. No. D582,790 to Friebe et al. shows a “foil package” having an attached straw and circular markings indicating the position for insertion of the straw. It is not possible to discern from the drawings how the straw is to be inserted in the foil.
While all of the bags and pouches are attractive and convenient, manufacturers and sellers of the pouches, the markup for the pouch is inordinately high considering the cost of the pouch and the beverage contained in the pouch.
One alternative to the disposable pouch is a reusable plastic container such as a sipper-cup construction. These alternative structures need repeated washings, and, if constructed of plastic, may become discolored and acquire an unpleasant smell. Another alternative is glass containers, which do not have these disadvantages, but bring the danger and inconvenience of breaking.